Meeting the Family
by fourthelement
Summary: Briar and Evvy are at Winding Circle. She wants to be part of his family, but she didn't expect the problems that came with it! PG for slight graphicness. [Discontinued Soon to be deleted]
1. There at Last

Briar stood at the gates of Winding Circle Temple, smiling. He stood six feet tall, towering over Rosethorn, his teacher. His green-gray eyes, unexpected in his golden-toned face, scanned the land for his sisters. He now called them his sisters, although they weren't really related. Sandry, Daja, and Tris were his foster sisters, connected to him by their magic. He hadn't seen them since he was fourteen. He had to see them. It had become dangerous to write letters, so he didn't know much about them now.

A young lady sat on a low wall on his left. She had long, straight blonde hair, and pale, creamy skin. She had a workbag slung over her shoulder, and she was spinning yarn. She was half a foot shorter than Briar, and she looked like most of the nobles who were educated at Winding Circle.

"Sandry!" Briar cried, dropping his bags to gather her in a hug.

"It's nice to see you, Briar," she said. Her voice was more musical than he remembered. She was more patient than he remembered, too.

"Where are Tris and Daja?" He asked, letting go.

"You mean Daja and Tris the novice."

Briar's jaw dropped. "Tris, a _novice_? What is she, the new Rosethorn?"

"She wanted to when she was turned away from Lightsbridge. Daja and I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted on it. She said that she needed something to do because she wasn't going to marry. Actually, she came back with a four-year-old little girl from Tharios, named Glaki. She's very sweet."

"What about you, Sandry? What are you doing?"

"Haven't you heard?" Sandry helped him carry his bags. "Daja and I are running Discipline."

That was a shock. "What of Lark?"

"She is at Wave Circle."

He shook his head. "And Tris is a dedicate here. The world has gone to the dogs. Oh, and how's Little Bear?"

"Bear is puppyish and playful as usual. He spends most of his days playing with Glaki." Sandry slid off the wall and began to walk down the spiral road. "Oh, you have to meet my student. He has dance magic. Actually, Briar," she said, "you're the only one of us that hasn't gotten a student."

"_Pahan_! _Pahan_ Briar, wait!" A thin eleven-year-old girl was running after them, carrying a bag and three baskets on her back. "Rosethorn says to help her with some rock-killers," she said.

Briar grinned. "Sandry, this is Evvy. Evumeimei Dingzai of Yanjing. She's my student, and she has stone magic."

"Hello," Sandry said, trying not to laugh as Evvy, exasperated, tied a basket to the top of her head. "Here, let me help you with that." She picked up one of her baskets. She nearly dropped it when she heard a loud yowling.

"What -" Sandry cried. A cat poked its head out of the basket top.

Sorry if it wasn't the greatest. First fic.


	2. The Discipline Bunch

She poked the cat's head. "Get in there, you!" Evvy chided in Imperial. "They have been cooped up for a long time," she said to Sandry.

"Ah," she replied.

"Hey, Sandry, when're we going to see Daja and Tris-the-novice?" Briar asked, lugging their cases, which he had picked up.

She hesitated. "Daja's in town with the Discipline children. She won't be back for a while. But I cooked a dinner for you," she added.

They went to the cottage. Dinner was a thick mutton stew, full of vegetables, warm, fluffy bread with butter, and other food. Evvy stared at it happily. Mutton stew was one of her favorites.

"More stew?" Sandry offered.

Briar elbowed his student. She looked up in a snap. "Huh? Oh, yes, please," she said. She had been lost in her thoughts. She liked the older girl well enough, she supposed, but something about her . . . it just made her uncomfortable.

Later, they went to bed. Evvy was on the bottom floor, sleeping in a room with a shelf built on its window. She wondered why it was there. _I can ask Pahan Briar later,_ she decided, and went to sleep.

The next day, Evvy woke at dawn and went to help Rosethorn in the garden. She wasn't the only one. Briar beat her to it. Instead, she went inside to help Sandry make the morning meal.

"Good morning, Evvy," she said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," she said slowly. "Need help?"

"That would be wonderful." She mixed a bowl. "Today is Glaki's birthday," she explained. "She turns five, so I decided to bake her a cake. Could you make the bread?"

"Of course." They talked in the kitchen for a while. Sandry told her a lot of things about her teacher that she had been curious about.

When Rosethorn and Briar came back in, the kitchen smelled of baking bread and sugary icing. Sandry was putting the finishing touches on the cake, while Evvy sliced bread and pulled butter from the box. A small, brown-haired girl sat at the table, swinging her legs and dressed in a nice blue dress that Briar would know for Sandry's work anywhere.

"Hello there," he said softly.

She stared at him, legs still swinging. "Hello sir," she replied in an odd accent.

"I'm Briar. He held out his hand.

"My name is Glaki," she said shyly.

"Tris's charge," Sandry mouthed. "Mine now."

"Where do you live, Glaki?" Briar asked.

"I live in Discipline with Sandry and Daja and Pasco and Dillon," she said.

A pair of boys came into the kitchen. One was quiet looking, thin, and pale, while the other was darker, lean, wiry, and talking loudly while the other listened intently to him. "Pasco, Dillon," Sandry said, "This is Briar and Rosethorn, the dedicate and my friend that I told you about."

The taller and darker of the pair bowed. "Pasco Acalon, at your service."

Sandry laughed. "He's my student," she explained, "And he is quite prone to silly mannerisms. He has dance magic."

"Odd," said Briar.

"My name is Dillon," said the other in an unexpectedly deep voice. "I'm studying to be a thread mage."

"Like you, Sandry," Briar said, grinning.

"Yes, of course."

Evvy observed this. Dillon looked all right, but Pasco had a suspicious air about him, something that made her distrust him. "_Pahan_," she said softly to Sandry, "Did Pasco come from the streets, like me?"

"No," she said, equally softly. "Pasco is the son of harriers in Summersea."

"Harriers?"

"Well, they are a police force, of sorts. They deal with criminals, and get thieves off the streets. Why do you ask?"

_No wonder I didn't trust him._ "I was just wondering, is all."

Sandry mumbled something about a novice, then left.

"Something smells good in here," a voice with a slight lilt proclaimed. A tall girl, black-skinned, strode in. "Briar!" She exclaimed. "Rosethorn!" She hugged them both.

"Hello to you too," said Briar, grinning. "Evvy, this is Daja, one of my other sisters. She has magic with the forge, metalworking and such," he explained. "Daja, meet my student, Evumeimei Dingzai."

She smiled widely. "Nice to meet you, Evumeimei."

"Just Evvy, please," she said. Her Imperial was choppy, although she seemed to understand it well. "You are _pahan_ as well?"

"Uhm," Daja said uncertainly. "I suppose so."

Briar yakked at Evvy in a language she did not recognize for a moment, then said to Daja, "The word _pahan_ is Chammuri for _mage._"

"I see. So, Evvy, what type of magic do you have?"

"My magic is with the stones. I can hear them, and know what they think, and sometimes I can make them warm or light up, if I wish. Can you hear the metal thoughts?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know if they are wanting polish or heat? Or perhaps if they want to be held or made into a box or wire or anything?" she asked excitedly.

Daja pondered a moment. "Well," she said slowly, "I can tell what kind of metal it is without looking, if that's what you're asking." She flexed her left hand. It itched.

Evvy stared at the metal encasing her hand. "Your hand . . . It is saying something, but I don't understand."

Daja waited uncomfortably, then said, "I don't know –"

"Evvy," said Briar gently, "Her hand is covered in metal. You don't have any connection to metal, your magic is with stones."

"I know, _pahan_, but still . . ." She trailed off.

Sandry reappeared. "Tris is in the Hub," she said. "Let's go visit."

----

A/n: Well, there's part 2. I hope it's all right. I've been having a bit of writer's block lately, and I've been coming up with one-shot fics instead of more chappies. I feel so guilty! I also had no clue about how I was going to get Glaki in the story. Thankfully, I was reminded that she had to be older than four.

Much thanks to my reviewers!

This story will definitely last until Evvy meets Crane in part 4, but I'm not sure if she'll meet many other people. She'll end up doing something special in the end, though, so keep reading!

Oh, yes, and let me explain a little. In Street Magic, Evvy was about nine or ten, so eleven is perfectly reasonable in my mind at least. The thing about Sandry making her uncomfortable . . . . Well, you'll know if you're on the Wave Circle Temple message board.

Happy reading!


	3. The Hub and Crimes

Wow, there are so many reviews!

Thanks to Alone in the Desert. Huge review. Let me clear a few things up. Dillon is a different person. He may seem a bit like Comas, who is Lark's newest student in Magic Steps, but Comas is not around in this story. You will find out what happens to him.

Okay, the ages are messed up. I know. But once I write something, I can't change it, so Glaki is going to be five.

I also understand that Sandry has brown hair. Yes. I get it. Also, Flower Kid, the correct spelling is _dyed. _Please don't make a big deal out of it. Sun bleaching is a pretty commong thing. During the summer, my hair goes from raven-black to dark auburn, and I'm olive-skinned.

Anyways, I have taken long enough to update so I will finish this up now!

In a boardinghouse in Summersea, a short, stocky man named Hortassan stood before the bed. He was a spy. Usually, he did not care about his clientele or their preferences, but this one, this was different. He had not been hired for the job: he had been forced into taking it. "I-I found the mage, Your Greatness," the figure mumbled.

"You have," the person on the bed said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes," said the stocky man, more confident. "The mage is staying with the young women Lady Sandrilene fa Toren and Daja Kisubo, the Winding Circle mages. It – it is said that together, Lady Sandrilene, Daja, the mage you search for, and one other are capable of great things."

The one on the bed sighed. "I know this," he said in a bored tone. "Have you found the other information I wanted?"

He hesitated. The man gave him a pointed look. Hortassan gulped and said, quietly, "No, Your Greatness, I have not."

To his great suprise, the man on the bed did not make a move. "You have not. This - failure is not of my concern. I may find this information myself now. I no longer have need of you. Go now, before I change my mind."

"Th-thank you," Hortassan gasped. "Thank y-you, Your Greatness. I promise you, your secret is safe with me." He stumbled from the room in fear. This man was unnatural. _Why did he choose me?_ he wondered for the hundreth time since he was forced to take on the job. _Why?_

He stepped outside his door into the dark alleyway. His musings were cut short as something painful jabbed into his back. _What . . ._ As his vision went red, he realized:he had been stabbed. He writhed in pain as a man pulled the knife from his body and rolled him over, knowing what was coming next. He closed his eyes.

"It is done, sir," said the hitman. He was the servant of the man seated on the bed. "The man they call Hortassan will never reveal you intentions."

He laughed. "Good, good. Now, we must find these mages and the one they call Briar Moss."

* * *

"So, you're Evvy, eh?" Pasco and Evvy were walking along behind the rest of the group. They were headed to the Hub, where Tris was studying, to go and visit her. The girl looked up at the taller boy. 

"Is that not what Sandry has said?" This boy greatly irritated her. No wonder. He was a, a _harrier_, police.

He gave her a look. "Gods, you don't hafta be so _touchy_."

She gave him a sour look. "_Pahan_ Briar did not tell me the students here were so ignorant," she muttered in Chammuri.

Briar, who had heard her, frowned. "Back off," he told her in the same language. "He's not ignorant, at least, I don't think he is."

They continued on. When they finally reached the Hub, a golden-robed dedicate answered their knock. "I'm sorry," he said crisply, "Novice Trisana is busy as of now. You will have to come back later." He slammed the door before anyone could do anything.

For a moment, they just stood there, staring at the door. "Wait a second," said Briar. "How did he know we were here for Tris?"


End file.
